


jump in the water // put the fire out

by daeneryssed



Series: confessa's widojest week 2020 cornucopia [7]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Last day here we go!!, Light Angst, Widojest Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25221658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daeneryssed/pseuds/daeneryssed
Summary: Caleb makes a small request to Jester: a trip back home, before their wedding.[prompt 7: “I’ll tell you later” OR “Uselessly in love”]
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Series: confessa's widojest week 2020 cornucopia [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820233
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43
Collections: Widojest Week 2020





	jump in the water // put the fire out

**Author's Note:**

> Happy WidoJest Week, everyone!! Thank you for all your support and love over the past week. Let's keep loving this ship together :)

It was a sunny day in Blumenthal. A blessing from Pelor, perhaps, for their deeds in stopping the release of the Chained Oblivion. Or it could just be that Jester Lavorre commanded the sun to follow her wherever she went. Veth had snorted and rolled her eyes when she had overheard Caleb muttering it to Frumpkin. “Lovesick fool,” she had said fondly, her eyes twinkling. Caleb had only smiled back. He could not deny it. 

It was a bittersweet feeling, stepping into the village that he had grown up in as a boy. Memories plagued him at every corner: there, his mother had bought fish afrer they had saved up enough money; here, Astrid had kissed him on the cheek while Eodwulf glowered in the background; under the tree over there, he had huddled with his parents to hide from the rain during the Harvest Close Festival, giggling and squealing as his father deliberately hugged him too tight, soaking his shirt and pants. 

Sweet memories that turned to ash in his mouth. 

“Caleb?”

Jester’s sweet voice pulled him from his thoughts. He smiled at her. “I’m all right,” he said softly. “I just need a little bit of time.”

“Of course! I’m here. We are all here.” 

Caleb nodded quickly, eager for her to know that he wasn’t slipping away from her or the Nein. No, he had come to terms with what he had done, with what he and his best friends had become, with the past that could never be changed.

Caleb continued to walk down the small street, passing by small stalls selling fruits, vegetables and meat. The village had prospered a little bit, probably bolstered by the extra demand during the war with Xhorhas, although they would have prospered a lot more if the harvests hadn’t been conscripted by the Empire. Caleb sighed. At least the worst members of the Assembly had been rooted out and Dwendal’s son showed good signs of being a kinder, more progressive leader than his father. It was the most they could hope for at this stage. 

‘ _I hope you are proud, father, mother,’_ he thought in his native tongue. ‘ _I hope I have done enough to save this country that you loved so much. That...that_ I _love so much._ ’

He tugged on Jester’s hand as they reached the end of the market street. “This way,” he said. Her gentle, affirming smile was a balm to his soul.

He was glad the Nein had hung back to give the two of them space. This moment was special. 

The stalls slowly filtered away and were replaced by small shacks and cottages. The smell of cooked meats and burning charcoal pervaded through the air. It was approaching dinner time. Beside him, he heard Jester’s stomach grumble. 

“I’mtotallynothungryIdidn’tmakethatnoise!” came the immediate high-pitched protest. 

Caleb laughed and pulled Jester close. He kissed her temple, feeling an overwhelming rush of affection for the silly tiefling. “You are a silly goose,” he said. “I’m getting hungry too. We’ll head back soon, ja?”

“We can take as long as you need, Cayleb!” said Jester, looking guilty. 

“Nein, I just want to take a quick look, that is all.” 

Jester hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Let’s continue then.”

It didn’t take them long. The village was a small one. After two more turns, Caleb reached the street where he had lived as a child. Grief gripped his chest. 

‘ _Oh father, mother,_ ’ he thought, tears filling his eyes. 

“Is this it?” asked Jester, her hand squeezing. 

Caleb could only nod. They stood there, for a while, letting the villagers pass them by as they took in the house before them. 

The actual house that he had lived in was long gone, of course. A new one had been built in its place, looking almost identical to his own. Made of wood with a door and two windows facing the street at the front; a roof of thatched grass; a little garden just about visible at the back with more flowers than his mother had been able to grow. It was...picturesque. Untouched by fire and pain...at least not as far as he could see. If he looked closer, dug deeper, perhaps he would find scars, remnants of an ugly past. 

Much like him, he supposed. 

Memories assaulted him. The guilt, the crippling regret, the anger and hurt and betrayal -- all of these things emotions would never truly go away. They would come in waves, hit him every now and then, until he felt like he was drowning, waking up in the middle of the night gasping for breath. The waves had begun to spread apart though. Farther and farther until he could go for weeks without it overtaking his mind. The fires raging in his nightmares had died down, been put out, leaving only smoking embers in their wake. Not gone, but tolerable. 

He had the Nein to thank for that and, most importantly, the tiefling beside him. 

“Thank you, blueberry,” he told her, squeezing her hand. It was cool to the touch. So cooling. The gem on her ring finger coolest to the touch, like water on burned skin.

“Of course, Caleb,” she replied, squeezing back. “I’m here for you.”

“Not just this,” he tried to clarify. “Not just-- not just for coming along with me but for _everything_. You- I once told you that you changed people. You do. You did. You--” Words were difficult. Once upon a time, they had flowed like water from his mouth, easy, effortless. Now, he stumbled and stuttered. “I’m getting better,” he finally said. “And you are a big part of that. I don’t know where I would have been without you.”

Jester’s gaze was impossibly soft. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, just a sweet peck. “Thank you, Caleb. I don’t know where I would have been without you too.” Her expression turned wicked. “I mean, you have some _pretty_ useful spells that I like.”

Caleb laughed. Laughter came easier to him these days. “I’m glad to be of service. Is that the real reason why you’ve agreed to marry me?”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Caleb. It’s only _part_ of the reason.” He laughed again. She grinned, before extracting her hand from his and cupping his face. He leaned into her touch, always hungry for it. Touch-starved for so long and now unable to get enough. “You’re the same to me, you know that, right?” she said more sincerely this time. “You’ve helped me so much through so many things. So we _both_ have been good for each other.”

Gods, he loved her. It had been a useless thing at one point; a distraction, a problem, really. There had been nothing in it except heartbreak. 

And now she would be his _wife_. She was here with him, kissing him, holding him. 

He opened his mouth, wanting to wax a soliloquy about his feelings, about how much she meant to him, about--

He closed his mouth. There would be another time for that. Perhaps when they said their vows, perhaps after. 

Jester tilted her head inquisitively, waiting. A small memory came back to him of a shop in Rosohna, of sheets of paper in his hand and Jester’s sweet face and back then too, he had said

“I’ll tell you later.” 

They had time. They would have their whole lives together. 

He looked at the house before them for one more time, taking it in, etching it into his memory. A reminder of his past; never forgotten, but not trapping him anymore either. 

He took her hand again and they walked away, together, back to the rest of the Nein. 

_the end._


End file.
